You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
The Kinsey report is an important contribution to the understanding of human behavior. It offers significant statistical data on the incidence of manifest, adult, polymorphous, sexual activity and affords an independent corroboration of the basic psychoanalytic views concerning infantile sexuality. However, Kubie regards the following basic assumptions underlying the work as untenable: first, that the overt sexual patterns are all we need to know about human sexuality, and second, that it is superfluous to attempt to explain any widespread pattern of activity. In addition, a number of errors and exaggerations mar the scientific validity of some aspects of the report. The incidence of various patterns of sexual behavior is probably exaggerated due to errors in sampling, in interviewing and in the manipulation of the statistics. Kinsey and his co-workers fail to recognize the importance of the powerful psychologic forces which influence the objects, the aims, and the quantity of sexual activity.
To correct the errors, deficiencies, and misconceptions in the ensuing part of the investigation—this is but the first and preliminary report—Kubie suggests that intensive, detailed studies of representative individuals in each sexual pattern should be conducted alongside the statistical studies. The investigators should take full cognizance of the fundamental principles of dynamic psychopathology and should not neglect unconscious and latent factors. This necessitates enlargement of the team conducting the investigation to include, in addition to biological taxonomists, workers from the various disciplines that concern themselves with human sexual behavior in its many aspects.